UChicago Athletics Preview: January 1-6

Jan 03, 2019

Wrestling

UChicago (4-1 record) starts the new year by heading down to Kentucky for this weekend's 2019 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals. The event will be hosted at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville.

The National Duals features 84 Invited teams from NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA, NJCAA and Women's programs. The Maroons open with Centenary University (0-3), with the winner facing top overall seed Augsburg University (3-0).

UChicago is coming off a 3-0 team showing as host of the Chicago Duals last Saturday. Juniors Steve Bonsall (157 pounds) and Kahlan Lee-Lermer (165 pounds) each posted three pins on the day. Three other Maroons also won all three matches – first-year Ben Sarasin (174 pounds), first-year Maguire Pecci (149 pounds) and senior Patrick Mulkerin (285 pounds).

The No. 8-ranked Maroons (9-2 record) look to get back into the win column with the University Athletic Association (UAA) opener at home versus Washington University – St. Louis (6-5) on Saturday afternoon.

Last year, UChicago won both matchups with WashU by six points each time. Four Maroons are currently averaging double figures in scoring, led by junior forward Taylor Lake at 14.9 points per game. The team is coming off a 64-59 loss versus Husson University on December 30 after winnings its previous three. Junior guard Mia Farrell has led the offense in scoring for three-straight contests.

UChicago (7-4 record) make its conference debut with a Saturday home game against rival Washington – St. Louis (7-4).

In 2018, the Maroons narrowly lost the first matchup 79-78 on the road before finishing the regular season with an 86-77 triumph that handed WashU its first conference loss. UChicago went 2-1 over the Christmas break, with wins over Transylvania University and Thomas More University before falling to Millikin University. Junior guard Jordan Baum averaged 15.3 points and 8.0 assists per game in those games.